Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Key Points

• Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC has purchased 22,254 shares of QUALCOMM, valued at approximately $3.4 million, making it the firm's 14th largest position.
• Several hedge funds, including Aberdeen Group plc and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, significantly increased their stakes in QUALCOMM during the first quarter, contributing to institutional ownership of over 74%.
• The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.89 per share to be paid on September 25th.

Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,254 shares of the wireless technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,419,000. QUALCOMM accounts for about 1.5% of Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in QCOM. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 21,247 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $3,264,000 after buying an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 118,975 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $18,209,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,011 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $1,538,000 after buying an additional 2,504 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 83.1% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 971,149 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $145,459,000 after buying an additional 440,622 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,669,315 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $717,161,000 after buying an additional 160,249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on QCOM shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of QUALCOMM to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $181.10.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

QCOM opened at $158.09 on Friday. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 12-month low of $120.80 and a 12-month high of $182.10. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $155.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.82.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $10.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.33 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 26.77% and a return on equity of 40.35%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. QUALCOMM's payout ratio is 34.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.28, for a total transaction of $537,546.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 46,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,490,810.88. The trade was a 6.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.40, for a total transaction of $234,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,102,655.20. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 424,099 shares of company stock valued at $8,352,355 in the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

QUALCOMM Company Profile

QUALCOMM Incorporated engages in the development and commercialization of foundational technologies for the wireless industry worldwide. It operates through three segments: Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT); Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL); and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI). The QCT segment develops and supplies integrated circuits and system software based on 3G/4G/5G and other technologies for use in wireless voice and data communications, networking, computing, multimedia, and position location products.

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